


Lullaby

by ShaneVansen



Category: Fringe
Genre: Angst, F/M, Fluff, h/c
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-08-22
Updated: 2010-08-22
Packaged: 2017-10-11 05:04:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,691
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/108726
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShaneVansen/pseuds/ShaneVansen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Five times Olivia and Peter slept together.  Spoilers for <i>Momentum Deferred</i> and <i>Johari Window</i>.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Lullaby

**Author's Note:**

> Way back in March, I asked for Five Times prompts (I love these, because it's so much easier writing scene snippits than entire stories). oparu gave me (among others) "five times Olivia and Peter slept together." I actually wrote most of this within a week or so of that prompt, but just got around to listening to my lovely betas *waves at marymc and vicki_james98* and editing it more recently.
> 
> Written before _Peter_ or any of the subsequent eps aired, and thus deviates quite a bit from that lovely scene toward the end of _Over There II_. ;)

** _-i- _ **

Peter settles himself on the floor of the abandoned building, leaning against the wall as he watches Olivia pace. Her face is pale and drawn, and, of more immediate concern, she's limping, but he can't tell if she's injured or just exhausted. He hasn't slept in nearly thirty hours and he suspects she never even made it to bed the night before they ended up on this case.

"Hey," he murmurs on her next pass, and she pauses to look at him. "Why don't you get a few hours' sleep? I'll keep watch." They're on their own until morning; there's no way she can stay awake that long.

He watches her weigh her options, her expressions easy to read now that she's too tired to control them. Eventually, she nods and moves to lie down next to him.

Peter stretches his legs out in front of him as Olivia bunches her jacket to use as a pillow. She's on his left, lying on her left side, and he's darkly amused that she's leaving him easy access to the gun clipped to her waist.

There's nothing but quiet for several minutes, broken only by the soft sounds of Olivia trying to get comfortable on the hard floor and, outside, the distant thrum of vehicles.

Beside him, Olivia shifts again, her back now pressed firmly against the outside of his hip and thigh. "Wake me if you get tired," she orders, already sounding halfway to dreamland.

"Sleep," is his only response. He reaches over to give her shoulder a gentle squeeze. She sighs a little, then seems to settle into sleep.

Peter barely moves the rest of the night, keeping her safe until the retrieval team comes for them just after dawn.

 

** _-ii-_ **

"You know, stakeouts are a lot more interesting on TV."

Olivia arches an eyebrow as she glances over at the passenger seat. "Sorry to disappoint," she says as she watches Peter try to get comfortable. They've been here nearly six hours without a single sign of their subject, and she's noticed his increasing restlessness. "You can go, you know. I'll be fine by myself."

"Nah, I'm good." He slides down in the seat, wriggles around a few more times, and finally seems to find a comfortable position. He throws her a grin. "See? Just fine."

She looks away, smiling, knowing he wouldn't have left. Peter can often be strangely protective even though, as he himself has pointed out more than once, she's the one with a gun.

They settle back into silence as Olivia shifts her attention back to the building they're watching. The car is quiet for a while until a noise from her right catches her attention, and it's all she can do to keep from laughing and waking Peter, who has fallen asleep and is now snoring in the seat beside her.

 

** _-iii-_ **

"What are you still doing here?"

Olivia jumps in her chair, startled by Peter's voice; she hadn't heard him enter the lab. "Paperwork," she explains as she glances up, waving a hand at the forms she has to fill out – in triplicate – thanks to the shooting earlier that day.

Peter half-sits on the edge of her desk. "And this couldn't have waited until tomorrow?"

She shrugs, dropping her gaze. "Figured I'd get it out of the way." It isn't entirely a lie.

The thing is, she lied to Peter that night in Edina – at least, she hadn't told the whole truth. She had trouble sleeping those first few nights the first time she'd killed a man, that's true enough, but what she neglected to share is that she never sleeps any time she witnesses or is responsible for someone's death. In a way, she's glad it still bothers her.

Peter doesn't look entirely convinced by her excuse, but to his credit he doesn't push the issue. "Well," he says, levering off the desk, "Walter and I are going to watch Invasion of the Body Snatchers – he sent me here to get it out of one of his boxes. You're welcome to join us."

Olivia looks from her paperwork to Peter and back to her paperwork. The forms _can_ wait until tomorrow, after all, and spending a few hours with the Bishops is a much more attractive thought than hanging around the lab and then going home to her empty apartment. She isn't used to decompressing around other people, though; she's always dealt by being alone. She's not sure if being around others will make it better or worse.

Peter seems to sense her hesitation. "C'mon, Dunham. There'll be popcorn."

She smiles. "Oh, well, if there's _popcorn_." She starts gathering her files together as he tracks down the movie, and two minutes later they're leaving the lab behind.

**

Twenty minutes into the movie, Olivia learns that both the Bishops give running commentaries that go ridiculously off-topic and keep her more entertained than what's happening on the screen. In spite of that, less than halfway through the movie she falls asleep against Peter's shoulder and doesn't wake until early the next morning, stretched out on their couch with a pillow under her head and covered with a blanket, having slept through the night for the first time in weeks.

 

** _-iv-_ **

Olivia sighs as she closes yet another file, scrubbing her hands over her face. They've been going over the local PD's files for hours now, she's exhausted, and they know nothing more than when they started.

She glances over at Peter, who appears to have fallen asleep on the other side of the bed where they've settled to go through the paperwork. "Hey," she says, poking him in the hip with her toe. "If you're done, go sleep in your own room."

He makes a face at her, not even bothering to open his eyes. "Five minutes," he entreats. "Just give me five minutes and then I'll help you finish looking for Big Foot sightings." He waves the folder that'd been sitting on his chest at her, eyes still closed.

"It's not Big Foot," she responds, mostly out of habit; they've been having the same non-argument all day. When he doesn't reply, she turns back to the next report.

Olivia lasts all of a minute before she decides that Peter has the right idea – a couple of minutes' rest is just what she needs to get through the rest of the reports. Tossing the file on top of the dozens of others littering the bed, she grabs a pillow, makes herself comfortable, and is asleep within minutes.

**

"Peter, do you think I could—" Walter stops as he passes through the door connecting his and Peter's room to Olivia's, catching sight of the two of them. They're both sound asleep on top of a number of folders scattered across Agent Dunham's bed.

Tiptoeing across the hotel room, Walter carefully starts gathering up the files before they can be crushed or knocked to the floor. Olivia has rolled onto one of the folders and he pulls at it, trying to get it free. At a particularly hard tug, she mutters something unintelligible and rolls onto her side.

Walter piles the folders neatly on the desk and grabs the blanket lying over the back of the couch. As he's laying it over the pair on the bed, Peter stirs. "Dad?" he mumbles blearily, and Walter's heart constricts.

"It's all right," he whispers, adjusting the blanket. "Go back to sleep, son."

"'Kay," he sighs, and wraps an arm around Agent Dunham's waist, curling up against her back. Walter smiles and happily claps his hands together. Turning off the lamps, he tiptoes back out of the room and closes the door, leaving them to sleep in peace.

 

** _-v-_ **

It's nearly midnight when someone knocks at the door, and Peter's surprised to find Olivia on the doorstep; it's too late for a social call – not that Olivia is one to stop by "just because" anyway – and she almost always calls first if there's a case. "What's wrong?" he asks, gesturing her inside.

Her eyebrows arch. "Something has to be wrong for me to visit?" she questions, trying to sound offended, but he can see right through her.

"Of course not," he assures her, then repeats, "What's wrong?"

Her expression falters and she looks away. "Can I stay here tonight?"

The question throws Peter for a moment. For Olivia to even ask is huge. The thing is, he doesn't know if he can get her to tell him why – if he pushes too hard, there's every possibility she'll just leave.

But he wants to know. There haven't been any particularly difficult cases lately, and she seemed fine earlier. A bit quiet, maybe, but every once in a while she gets a little withdrawn, and he's learned the hard way that it's better to just give her space when she wants it.

He studies her face, mentally reviewing everything that might be bothering her and wondering if he should just ask, when he clues in to the fact that it's been a year since they buried Charlie.

Olivia's starting to look uneasy and Peter realizes he's been silent for too long. "You know you're always welcome here," he says, relieved to see her relax a bit. He tilts his head toward the other room. "Walter's watching some science documentary, if you're interested."

Her eyes flick to the living room and then back. "Actually," she says, sounding hesitant, "I'm really tired."

Without a word he takes her hand and leads her upstairs. In less than ten minutes she's curled up against him in his bed, and this is new and yet not because they've been sleeping together for almost a month but this is the first time they've just _slept_ together. He has commitment problems, she has trust issues, and between the two of them it's hard to predict which of them would bolt faster if this relationship started resembling anything permanent. Maybe down the road, but it'll take some time.

Olivia stirs, shifting closer. "Thanks," she says simply.

Peter finds her hand and squeezes. "Any time," he tells her, and means it.

_\--end--_


End file.
